US govt reportedly using location data from mobile ads to track coronavirus spread
5 years ago

US govt reportedly using location data from mobile ads to track coronavirus spread

India Today  

The coronavirus pandemic has encouraged governments across the world to unleash what has been termed the 'violation of privacy' by security analysts. US government officials are now moving ahead in their attempts to track citizens using the mobile phone location data from the mobile ad industry. The governments elsewhere, including those in Europe, China, Singapore, South Korea, and even India have devised methods to extract the mobile phone data from the local carriers and monitor the citizens in their countries. A separate report by The New York Times said that the Israeli government has authorised the use of location data sourced from mobile phones to track the extent of coronavirus spread, but for a limited time. Various governments around the globe have been mulling to introduce a tracking system that sneaks into the mobile phones of their citizens and obtain location data.

India Data Location Mobile Location Data Phone Governments Coronavirus Spread Track Citizens  privacy  governments  location  govt  coronavirus  spread  track  citizens  tracking  phone  ads  movement  using  used  data  mobile  reportedly

History of this topic

Police seize on COVID-19 tech to expand global surveillance
2 years, 3 months ago

Police seize on COVID-19 tech to expand global surveillance

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. What he didn’t know was that the feared internal …

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology
4 years, 1 month ago

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology

The Hindu  

On January 13 this year, subscribers of English newspapers in India woke up to full-page Platforms and COVID-19 The issue of privacy is crucial for government technology platforms and services as governments typically have a monopoly in providing public services, unlike the private sector. An assessment of the 35 mobile applications revealed that 17 mobile apps provide information on COVID-19 …

As Europe faces 2nd wave of virus, tracing apps lack impact
4 years, 6 months ago

As Europe faces 2nd wave of virus, tracing apps lack impact

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mobile apps tracing new COVID-19 …

Privacy watchdog slams coronavirus phone data mapping plan
4 years, 8 months ago

Privacy watchdog slams coronavirus phone data mapping plan

Dutch News  

Government plans to force phone firms to hand over anonymised data from their clients to the public health institute RIVM for analysis would seriously compromise privacy, according to watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgevens. The telephone data would allow the RIVM to see how private individuals move between different parts of the country. If, for example, there was a new outbreak of coronavirus …

Privacy fears over COVID apps by Bahrain, Kuwait, Norway
4 years, 9 months ago

Privacy fears over COVID apps by Bahrain, Kuwait, Norway

Al Jazeera  

Live tracking of users’ locations puts thousands of people at risk, Amnesty International says. Amnesty International has raised privacy and security concerns over “invasive” contact-tracing apps rolled out by Bahrain, Kuwait and Norway to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The UK-based rights group said on Tuesday an investigation into COVID-19 apps being used by 11 countries had rated Bahrain’s “BeAware Bahrain”, …

The CBS has been tracking movements by mobile phone: NRC
4 years, 9 months ago

The CBS has been tracking movements by mobile phone: NRC

Dutch News  

Government statistics agency CBS may have breached privacy rules by using T-Mobile mobile phone location data to track people’s movements, the NRC reported on Wednesday. Privacy watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP told the NRC it was ‘remarkable’ that the CBS has effectively tracked and traced people by means of their phones when an emergency law is needed to allow the government …

The CBS has been tracking movements by mobile phone: NRC
4 years, 9 months ago

The CBS has been tracking movements by mobile phone: NRC

Dutch News  

Government statistics agency CBS may have breached privacy rules by using T-Mobile mobile phone location data to track people’s movements, the NRC reported on Wednesday. Privacy watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP told the NRC it was ‘remarkable’ that the CBS has effectively tracked and traced people by means of their phones when an emergency law is needed to allow the government …

Pakistan uses militant-tracking tech to hunt virus
4 years, 10 months ago

Pakistan uses militant-tracking tech to hunt virus

Deccan Chronicle  

Islamabad: Pakistan's intelligence services are deploying secretive surveillance technology normally used to locate militants to instead track coronavirus patients and the people they come into contact with. Details about the project have not been released, but two officials told AFP that intelligence services are using geo-fencing and phone-monitoring systems that ordinarily are employed to hunt high-value targets including homegrown and …

Apple and Google share contact tracing technology that can help fight coronvirus
4 years, 10 months ago

Apple and Google share contact tracing technology that can help fight coronvirus

India Today  

Authorities in 23 countries across five continents have sought access to contact tracing technology from Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, the companies announced on Wednesday as they released the initial version of their system, as reported by Reuters. But authorities would have to stop requiring phone numbers from users under the companies’ rules, one of several restrictions that have …

Here come COVID-19 tracing apps - and privacy trade-offs
4 years, 10 months ago

Here come COVID-19 tracing apps - and privacy trade-offs

Associated Press  

As governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic. “Governments and public health want to be able to track people” to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but people are less likely to download a voluntary app if it is intrusive, …

Australia has COVIDSafe. Here is how other countries are using contact tracing apps in the fight against coronavirus
4 years, 11 months ago

Australia has COVIDSafe. Here is how other countries are using contact tracing apps in the fight against coronavirus

ABC  

More than 2 million Australians have downloaded the Government's COVID-19 tracing app, COVIDSafe. Using mobile phone location data, along with the country's prolific CCTV and credit card transaction records, authorities retrospectively track the movements of people who later test positive. The practice of authorities accessing mobile phone location data purely for contact tracing is not legal in Australia. The country …

Government insists coronavirus tracing app will not track people's locations, says data will be stored on phones
4 years, 11 months ago

Government insists coronavirus tracing app will not track people's locations, says data will be stored on phones

ABC  

Community privacy concerns have forced the Federal Government to insist a coronavirus tracing app will neither track people's locations nor be available for law enforcement agencies to access. Key points: The Government is developing an app to assist with contact tracing confirmed cases Minister Stuart Robert insists the app will not track people's location The app will record names, ages, …

Apple and Google plan software to slow spread of coronavirus
4 years, 11 months ago

Apple and Google plan software to slow spread of coronavirus

The Hindu  

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday that they will work together to create contact tracing technology that aims to slow the spread of the Coronavirus by allowing users to opt into logging other phones they have been near. “With Apple and Google, you get all the public health functions you need with a decentralised and privacy-friendly app,” …

Apple and Google partner on coronavirus contact tracking system
4 years, 11 months ago

Apple and Google partner on coronavirus contact tracking system

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Public health organisations have identified "contact tracing" as …

Welcome To The Coronavirus Surveillance State
4 years, 11 months ago

Welcome To The Coronavirus Surveillance State

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING The coronavirus pandemic has already required millions of people to accept limits on their personal freedoms, as countries around the world have imposed lockdowns and enforced strict social distancing measures in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. “For this to work, there would have to be a broad consensus among all the groups, and we …

Coronavirus: How scientists track us to help tame Covid-19
4 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus: How scientists track us to help tame Covid-19

Live Mint  

It wasn’t ordered up by Washington, it doesn’t have a catchy name and its members don’t get paid. “There’s a lot of location data out there,” he said, which needs to be shaped “into something that’s not just the Wild West, but is passing through an expert filter on what this means for public health.” The data show whether people …

Why Australia isn't using mobile data to track people potentially infected with coronavirus
4 years, 11 months ago

Why Australia isn't using mobile data to track people potentially infected with coronavirus

ABC  

Australia is refusing to use what could be one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against coronavirus. Australia is using traditional tracing methods, despite it being legal to access citizens' mobile data. The Federal Government and some states, including NSW, are using aggregated, anonymised mobile data from telecommunications companies to monitor the public's movements. Stay up-to-date on the …

Can you use apps to track coronavirus and protect data? Europe’s going to try
4 years, 11 months ago

Can you use apps to track coronavirus and protect data? Europe’s going to try

CNN  

London CNN Business — Countries across Europe are looking to launch tracking apps to fight the spread of the coronavirus, without raising the kinds of privacy concerns that surround similar technology used elsewhere. The United Kingdom’s National Health Service told CNN it is “looking at whether app-based solutions might be helpful in tracking and managing coronavirus, and we have assembled …

Israel's defence ministry to use data gathered from mobile phones to help locate likely carriers of Coronavirus
4 years, 11 months ago

Israel's defence ministry to use data gathered from mobile phones to help locate likely carriers of Coronavirus

Firstpost  

The system assigns a rating of 1 to 10 to the likelihood that a person is carrying the Coronavirus. Israel’s defence ministry plans to use software that analyses data gathered from mobile phones — produced, according to Israeli media, by the spyware firm NSO — to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them. Defence Minister …

Coronavirus spread can be tracked by phone but your privacy may suffer
5 years ago

Coronavirus spread can be tracked by phone but your privacy may suffer

ABC  

Borders, beaches, pubs and churches are closed, large events are cancelled, and travellers are subject to 14 days' isolation — all at significant cost to taxpayers and the economy. One possibility is to use location history data from the mobile phones of confirmed cases, to help track and trace the spread of infection. All mobile service providers in Australia are …

Coronavirus | Concerns over privacy as details of air travellers are leaked online
5 years ago

Coronavirus | Concerns over privacy as details of air travellers are leaked online

The Hindu  

The government’s efforts to monitor people advised quarantine for the novel coronavirus ran into privacy issues on Friday, after the database of hundreds of passengers who returned from “coronavirus affected countries” was leaked online and shared by social media groups. “I find it worrying that our information has leaked,” said one of the passengers who lives in a South Delhi …

Europe eyes smartphone location data to stem virus spread
5 years ago

Europe eyes smartphone location data to stem virus spread

Associated Press  

The Czech Republic has become the first European country to announce plans to deploy a powerful but potentially intrusive location-tracking tool for fighting the coronavirus pandemic, as others consider similar moves bound to put public health in conflict with individual privacy. The new tool marks a substantial departure from existing European disease-surveillance efforts, which have focused on tracking people’s movements …

Coronavirus: Taiwan tracking citizens’ phones to make sure they stay indoors
5 years ago

Coronavirus: Taiwan tracking citizens’ phones to make sure they stay indoors

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Taiwan, which has won global …

In the battle against coronavirus, personal privacy is at risk
5 years ago

In the battle against coronavirus, personal privacy is at risk

CNN  

San Francisco CNN Business — When Declan Chan arrived in Hong Kong from Zurich on March 17 after six weeks overseas, city officials made him put on a plain-looking white wristband and download an app called StayHomeSafe before he exited the airport. “Should the app be deleted during quarantine period, the Department of Health and the police will be alerted …

Trump administration wants to use Americans’ location data to track the coronavirus
5 years ago

Trump administration wants to use Americans’ location data to track the coronavirus

CNN  

Washington, DC CNN Business — The Trump administration is in discussions with the tech industry, including Facebook and Google, about how to use Americans’ cellphone location data to track the spread of the novel coronavirus. “Should governments decide to track their citizens, they should establish clear guidelines as to what powers they do have, how they will conduct any monitoring, …

Israel enables spy power to track people suspected of having coronavirus
5 years ago

Israel enables spy power to track people suspected of having coronavirus

ABC  

The Israeli Government has approved emergency measures for its security service to use mobile phone surveillance technology to track data of people to help curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. Key points: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says phone surveillance was approved for a 30-day period The Association for Civil Rights in Israel calls the move "a dangerous precedent …

Now, Kerala decides to use GPS tracking to rein in coronavirus fugitives
5 years ago

Now, Kerala decides to use GPS tracking to rein in coronavirus fugitives

Deccan Chronicle  

Kochi: With reports coming out that people are jumping coronavirus quarantine, the Kerala government has decided to use geo-tracking technologies to locate and rein them in. This week there have been reports from Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Mangaluru and Hyderabad of people either resisting coronavirus testing or fleeing quarantine, health authorities in Thiruvananthapuram have started to use geo mapping and GPS tracking …

Phone tracking used to follow movements of Chinese couple with coronavirus in Adelaide
5 years, 1 month ago

Phone tracking used to follow movements of Chinese couple with coronavirus in Adelaide

ABC  

A phone-tracking system used to better understand where two people infected with coronavirus roamed in Adelaide is the same system harnessed by SAPOL for criminal investigations, the state's Police Commissioner has said. Key points: Phone metadata is being used to track an infected couple's movements around Adelaide SA Health is following the lead of South Korea in using phone tracking …

Location tracking: Why the govt-mobile manufacturer war won't end soon
11 years, 5 months ago

Location tracking: Why the govt-mobile manufacturer war won't end soon

Firstpost  

The Union government and mobile operators are at loggerheads on location based services - the service through which mobile companies can provide real time location of mobile users to the government. As reported by Firstpost, the government has already directed all telecom service providers to make location details a mandatory part of call data records of all mobile users in …

Next from Sibal: Mobile user tracking in latitudes and longitudes
13 years, 1 month ago

Next from Sibal: Mobile user tracking in latitudes and longitudes

Firstpost  

If you’re still seething over social media censorship, you may just have to brace yourself for something more….a lot more. Mr. Sibal’s work desk, at the moment, seems to be filled with documents of a new proposal - tracking mobile users, right down to the latitudes and longitudes. According to an Indian Express report, in the amendments that were made …

Discover Related